A Blog on Mythology and occasionally on Reality.

Pages

Monday, October 28, 2013

Last
week, we read about worshiping of Ravan as Mahatma
Ravan in temples honouring him. As I mentioned earlier, in this, he is not
alone. Duryodhan, the ‘villain’ from the epic Mahabharata, too enjoys similar
adulation in certain parts of the country and he too is worshiped in temples
that have come up in his honour and some of them exist since long.

In
the ‘har-ki-doon’ valley of the The Jaunsar-Bawar region in Dehradun, is a
place where Duryodhan is worshipped. It is said that during the dvapar yuga (the period of Mahabharata which
ended with the ‘death’ of Lord Krishna), Duryodhan arrived at this place and
was impressed by the natural beauty of the region. He requested the local deity,
Lord Mahasu, for a piece of land for himself near the mountains of Himalaya,
which the deity agreed, with a condition that he would look after the locals of
the region. Till date the locals believe that the region is controlled by Duryodhan Maharaj. Some people believe
that he passes his orders through his spirit which visits certain people in the
village, and the orders are followed as a must. One of the villages by the name
of Jakhol has a temple where an idol of Duryodhan is installed and it is taken
out in processions during certain periods of the year.

Duryodhan Temple at Uttarakhand

The
region of Mori in the same area, not only has an ancient temple dedicated to
Duryodhan, but also has few temples in honour of the other Kaurava princes, Karna
and King Shalya, all supporters of Duryodhan! It is interesting to note the
region is also a contradiction of sorts, as one of the peaks is known as “Swargarohini peak” i.e. the gates to
heaven. This is the region which the Pandavas had trekked and ascended to the
heaven through the peak!

It
is said that after death of Duryodhan in the battle of Kurukshetra, the people
of the region wept so much that the tears became a river, known as Tamas, locally also known as the river Toms. Till date, people of the region do
not drink water from the river, as they feel that the tears still flow in the
river!

Finally
and probably the most important temple of Duryodhan is said to be the
Peruviruthy Malanada Temple in the Kollam district of Kerala, India. The region
also has other temples dedicated to the other Kauravas, their sister Dusshala, mother
Gandhaari, Shakuni, Karna and Bhishma and Dronacharya, but none of the temples
have any idols. There are just platforms where the idols should have been.

The temple and on the right side is the altar without any idol

There
is an interesting myth associated with the origin of the temple. According to
this myth, during the exile of the Pandavas, Duryodhan set out to look for them
and he traversed right up to the Malanada Hills in South. Duryodhan was very
tired and thirsty and saw a woman drinking something and asked for water. The
woman was drinking a local toddy and without realizing gave the same drink to
Duryodhan who too drank it. As soon as he finished drinking, the lady realized
that the person was of royal origin and around the same time Duryodhan realized
by the dressing of the woman, that he had taken the drink form an untouchable
tribeswoman, from the Kurava tribe.

While
the lady was shivering from fear of royal retribution, Duryodhan was glad at
the woman’s selflessness to offer him her own drink. Duryodhan pacified her
that he was not angry and as part of his royal duty donated about 100 acres of
land to them for cultivation. Since then, the priests in the temple of
Duryodhan, built in his honour, and other Kuarava family have been from this
untouchable Kurava class and the people till date venerate the ‘villain’ of the
epic Mahabharata, Duryodhan. It is not surprising to note that toddy is an
important offering in the temple!!

It
is interesting to read about such myths as they bring out the other side of the
villainous characters of such epics. Such myths in Mahabharata goes on to
highlight the fact that certain characters were not absolutely negative in
nature, but only had certain negative personality traits. While Duryodhan might
have been a villain in general, fanned by his uncle Shakuni (who had his own
justification for the villainy This
is Utkarsh Speaking: Shakuni
), his ability to overcome a caste-bias was obvious in the way, he anointed Karna
as the King of Anga. The above mentioned myth too goes on to prove the same
thing, his attitude towards the lower caste people, especially in times when
caste was the most important aspect of an individual.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

A
recent article in Times of India, after Dussehra, is the raison d'etre of this article. The said article referred Ravan, the
villain of the epic Ramayana, as ‘Mahatma Ravan’ and projected him as the
savior of women and the ‘protector of the Nirbhaya’s in the country’ (Read the
full article - Ramlila refrain: Only Ravana can save Nirbhayashttp://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-10-14/chandigarh/43025513_1_effigies-martyrdom-day-dussehra). For those who might not want to click on the link (!), the article
went on to list a host of cities in Punjan abd Haryana, which traditionally
observed the day of Dussehra as the day of Ravan’s martyrdom and even mentioned
how Ravan ‘protected’ Sita when she was in his custody.

Ravan

While
there seems to be a contradiction in the acts of the worshipers of Ravan, such
contradictions are not absolutely out of place. While majority burn the effigy of
Ravan, as a sign of the victory of good over evil, there are many who see him
as a hero. While many feel that his pride and arrogance was his hubris, he nonetheless had much to be
appreciated for. (Read more on Ravan Ravan
- Part 1 ). In Ramayan,
Ravan is pitted against Ram, a character created to depict what stood for
everything right, a maryada-purushottam,
a man amongst men. Ram was the vision of the author who created an embodiment
of all the virtues in an ideal man, be he a son, brother, husband or a King.
The negatives were all bundled in his main adversary, and in this case, Ravan,
which was more to highlight the grave differences between the two adversaries.

While
the article does sound a trifle oxymoronic when it says that Ravan ‘protected’
Sita in ‘custody’, it is not absolutely wrong when it says that women in Lanka
under ‘Ravan-raj’ or the rule of Ravan were safe. Many might challenge this, by
saying that Ravan was a confirmed womanizer, though there aren’t too many
episodes to prove this except his violation of apsara Rambha, after he was
smitten by her looks. It was after this violation, that he was cursed by Lord
Brahma, that if he ever violated any other woman, his head would burst, and
this was considered to be the main reasons for Ravan not violating or even
hurting Sita. Some versions also state that he could not do so, as Sita was his
daughter (Read more in Ravan – Part 2
).

So
could Ravan be considered to be the role model for being the savior of
Nirbhaya’s of India? In spite of Ravan being one of my personal favorites, this
choice is a bit far-fetched. A person, who lives in a world of his own, and
believes in the theory of an eye-for-an-eye and risks the entire country for a
personal issue, could not be considered to be the savior of Nirbhaya’s of
India. While he might have kidnapped Sita to avenge his sister’s mutilation,
waging a war and risking the entire nation for the same was not a very sensible
thing to do. It was nothing short of a political suicide for an able and
intelligent administrator like him. Call it a defect in his character, but it
did lead to his downfall and immense loss to the nation.

Many
known ‘villains’ of epics have followers in the modern day, Duryodhan of
Mahabharat, being one of them. There are a number of temples dedicated to Duryodhan,
in the region of Uttaranchal and even in Kerala. While we will discuss the
logic of such temples in these locations on some other day, it is important to
understand that such temples co-exist with the temples of the heroes from the
same epics. Some of the temples have their genesis in the politics of the later
days, and the oppression of certain classes. It is also important to note that
while the villains are being worshiped in some places, the heroes are not
criticized in the same places. This could be due to the lack of clarity in the
exact position of the followers of an ‘alternate’ faith, or their inability to
tackle the onslaught of offending the mainstream faith. Again, a
religious-political issue.

While
debates will always be biased one way or the other when we judge such
characters, it would be unwise to debate on the basic premise on which such
epics have been written. A few temples of Ravan or Duryodhan do not make them
worth worshiping at altars, even if some of them have been wronged at some
point of time. I am in no way suggesting that the heroes of the same epics are
more worthy of being ‘worshiped’ in the traditional sense, as against the
known villains, but worshiping of these can only be seen as biases which have
gone beyond reason.

Monday, October 14, 2013

An interesting aspect of Durga Puja, is the status it accords to
women or girls. While we understand that the festival has a huge relevance to
the feminine principle in general and also stands for the feminine spirit and
power, the festival has its relevance to the women folk even in the social
milieu. While the times have changed and the outlook might not hold ground in
today’s times, it is still in context that we need to see this aspect.

Bengal has traditionally always accorded an elevated status to women
folk. A case in point is the number of festivals around goddesses like
Saraswati, Durga, Kali, etc. These goddesses have an edge in comparison to
other gods like Ram or Krishna, with a slight exception of Lord Shiva. Durga
Puja which is one of the main festivals of the Eastern India, also focuses a
lot on the feminine aspects be in the form of Kumari Puja (This
is Utkarsh Speaking: Kumari Puja ) or getting clay for the idols
from the marginalised section of the society (This is Utkarsh Speaking: Clay for Durga Idols ) or
the numerous rituals which are centred around women. But here, let us look at a
social angle to the festivities.

A madhubani painting depicting Durga and her children

One of the aspects of the festival of Durga Puja is that Durga
returns to her parent’s home for a few days along with her children, Saraswati,
Lakshmi, Kartik and Ganesh. Many a folk song’s theme is about the tough life of
Durga at her husband’s home with so much work, four children and an inattentive
husband who seldom comes home, and who is engrossed in meditation or smoking
hemp. Besides all this, Shiva’s lack of confirmation to social norms is another
sore point in the marital life of the goddess. From a tough cold life of her husband’s
house, she comes to the warm climates of her parent’s home to all the attention
and love that parents shower on their daughters and her children. At her parents’
home, she gets all the warmth and comfort that is missing at her husband’s home
and even if it is for a few days, she enjoys the attention and love.

In the ancient times a girl had to undergo hardships at her in-laws
house, due to the pressure of household chores and numerous other expectations
that the in-laws had from her, both in the social context as well as support at
homes. The girls who were married off at a young age ended up becoming
support-systems at their in-laws which were bereft of any modern-day amenities.
In such a scenario, she would be subdued and at the beck and call of all elders
in the family, more so the mother-in-law, along with the need to take care of her
own children. The girl needed a break from all this. During Durga Puja,
traditionally women along with their children would return to their parent’s
home where they would be treated well and showered with attention and gifts and
the much needed rest.

After the festivities are over, the girl leaves for her in-laws home
for another year of hardship and toil, just as Devi Durga leaves her parents
home for her husband’s, after Bijoya
Dashami. Parents feel sad to see their daughter leave and even today, many
a woman is seen weeping during the immersion of the Durga’s idol.

While many celebrate the Durga Puja as the killing of Mahishasura by
the goddess Durga, some see it as a time to shower love and attention on their
daughters who do not get the same attention at their husband’s home. An
immensely relevant social custom of the times woven with mythological and
religious sentiments is the way to see this aspect of the festivities. Times
might have changed, but the social context could just be relevant even today in
certain sections of the society.

With this we come to the end of Durga Puja. Here's wishing all my readers a happy Dashera & Bijoya!!!

Friday, October 11, 2013

During Durga
Puja, one of the most important ritual on Mahasaptami, or the seventh day, i.e.
today, is the bathing of the Kala-bou
or the banana-bride.

Ceremonial bath given to a banana tree on the banks of the Ganga

On this day, a
small banana tree is taken to the river Ganga, and given a ceremonial bath. The
tree is then draped in a white saree
with red border, with some sindur or
the vermillion powder applied on its leaves. Thereafter, the tree is kept on
the right side of the idol of Ganesh, implying that she is the bride of Lord
Ganesh.

However, the
traditionalists differ on the concept of the Kala-bou as they see it signifying the coming together of Naba-patrika, or the nine leaves. On the
trunk of the banana tree are tied the leaves of the following trees –

Holud gaach or the turmeric
tree

Bel gaach of the wood apple
tree

Daalim gaach or the
pomegranate tree

Maankochu or the arum
plant

Rice plant

Ashok tree

Kochu gaach of the
colacassia plant

Jayantigaach of the saal tree

Each of the
above also stand for different forms of goddesses, like the banana tree
representing Goddess Brahmani, turmeric tree representing Durga, wood apple
tree representing Lord Shiva himself, the pomegranate tree representing
Raktabija, Arum plant for Chamunda, rice for Lakshmi, Ashok tree for Sokrahita,
the colacassia for Goddess Kalika and the Jayanti for Kartiki. All the
goddesses are different forms of the Goddess Durga. Needless to mention, that
each plant/tree has its significance in the day to day life of a common man,
either in the form of staple diet, or as a spice of as part of medicinal plant.

Many have even
opined that the Nabapatrika is a form
of Durga herself, which symbolises all the aspects of

nature in a complex
vegetative state. According to a scholar the plant symbolises the “festive
enactment of Durga’s return of the blood of the buffalo demon to the earth so
that the order of the world be re-established and luxuriant vegetation appear.”
As far as placing the Nabapatrika
next to Lord Ganesh’s idol is concerned, it can be surmised that the same is due
to Lord Ganesh being credited to be the creator of eighteen medicinal plants,
for which he is known as Astadasausadhisrsti.

Many also feel
that the worship of Kala-bou in the
form of Nabapatrika might not have
anything to do with Lord Ganesh at all. It could just have been a local or a
primitive practice of worshipping the Mother Earth for a rich harvest and with
the popularity of the Durga Puja, this ritual was assimilated in the
festivities. In the absence of idol-worship, the Nabapatrika was the symbol of Mother Nature herself. Autumn or sharad-ritu
was also the season for reaping crops and the peasants worshipped the Nabapatrika for a rich and bountiful
harvest. As far as the placement of the Kala-bou
is concerned, since Kartik was a confirmed bachelor, it was logical to place
‘her’ next to Ganesh! In fact, the worshipping of Nabapatrika in its original form is still prevalent in some parts
of Eastern India.

Finally, to
conclude, here is an interesting folktale related to Kola-bou. According to
this tale, the wedding procession of Ganesh had not gone very far from home,
when Ganesh remembered that he had forgotten something. On returning, he found
his mother Durga eating bowlfuls of rice and gorging herself. Ganesh found it
odd and asked his mother, as to why was she gorging herself. To this Durga is
supposed to have said – “Jodi tor bou
aamaake khete na dai? (What if your wife did not give me enough food to
eat?). Hearing this Ganesh was upset, he stepped out of his home, cut a banana
tree and gave it to her saying “etai
tomar bou (this is your daughter-in-law)”. Later, Ganesh was married off to
the banana tree and thus the name Kala-bou, or the banana bride.

Interestingly,
till quite some time back, in rural Bengal many mother-in-laws would be in a
perennial fear of not getting enough food when their new daughter-in-laws came
home, and tried to wield more authority on their sons. An interesting folk tale
with mythological connotations, where the food has always been a source of
trouble!

About Me

Utkarsh has qualifications in Mythology, both Indian and World from Mumbai University. He is also a faculty on the subject of Comparative Mythology, at the Mumbai University, India. Utkarsh is also a regular trainer and lecturer on varying subjects at private organisations and educational institutions.

Utkarsh has more than 2 decades of experience in Sales and Business Development of IT products and solutions. He has worked with some of the well known IT organisations, some being start-ups, in India. Utkarsh is also a regular trainer and lecturer on varying subjects at private organisations and educational institutions.

Besides his Blog he is also a content provider to a few portals on similar subjects. Some of his short stories have been published in the well known literary story Blog, called LITIZEN. Utkarsh has also written a book on the subject of mythological-fiction, and working on another one, both of which are expected to be published in the next few months.